03.21.05
Roboto Monthly Meeting - Minutes for the 3/21/05 Meeting

Roboto Monthly Meeting March 2005

Board Members’ Report:

Jen Briselli (PR/Secretary): Membership renewals and new memberships continue at a very very slow pace. The next round of renewals will be due at the end of March, so if your expiration date is 3/31/05 (or earlier), start working on getting your $10 renewal fee and updated contact info to me, or better yet, get a lifetime membership! Remember, you can pay for membership costs via paypal here: http://www.therobotoproject.org/membership.html

Jim Robinson (Facilities): Jim brought up the following topics: water damage to the ceiling tiles above the stage (which he will replace soon) and the need to purchase and replace light bulbs in the beams for the overhead lighting. He welcomes all suggestions/input and is also still looking for anyone who might want to join his committee, which will involve not only facilities and maintenance type activities but ideas for wall art and etc.

Mike (Q) Roth (Treasurer): Roboto's been doing quite well, after the huge benefit in January and a better than average month of February, we at a year to date profit of almost $2200. This isn't guaranteed to continue, however, so it's important that we stick to our budget and keep encouraging people to renew their memberships. Roboto's taxes are done and all is looking well on the financial seas.

Jeremy Hedges (Special Events): Jeremy hoping to have one special event at Roboto each month. This month there will be a night of improvised music on March 28, the cost is $3. Other upcoming events include a promoter's workshop in April where seasoned promoters and amateurs alike can discuss the best ways to interact with bands, make sure people come, design good flyers and other promotion and etc. In May we will finally have the much anticipated member appreciation night: more details to follow. Jeremy also asked permission for the special events committee to be allowed waive the $50 rental fee for special events where this seems appropriate and to allow a single special event per month beyond the normal 20 show limit, so as not to subtract from any other events that might otherwise be planned. Those in attendance agreed.

Joe Wilk (Booking): Joe was unable to attend the meeting.

New Business:

As promised last month, a cancellation policy has been drafted and it was discussed/edited at the meeting to contain the following text:

"In the event of a cancellation, notice of the cancellation must be provided to the booking coordinator at least two weeks in advance of the reserved event date. Failure to give two week's notice will result in a probation period for the member reserving the date, that will consist of three months. Members on probation will then be required to provide the $50 rental fee to Roboto before reserving any future dates during this probationary period. This $50 down payment can be made via money order, Paypal, or in person to any board member according to his/her own arrangement (no checks or cash by mail); the show date will not be considered reserved until the down payment is received by Roboto. (If the event draws a door profit of greater than $200, the member will still be required to pay 25% of the door, less the original $50 down payment.) Cancellations that occur as a result of circumstances beyond the reserving member's control will be considered on a case by case basis in determining probationary status."

We are ready to adopt this policy unless there any concerns or additions people think should be made- please email comments to us. Also, as it stands, this policy implies that a member on probation won't have the date reserved until Roboto has the $50 in hand. Some suggested we give the member trying to reserve the date a week grace period during which the date is reserved and off limits to anyone else, during which the money can be transferred, and if its not received within the week, the date will then be considered open again. Ideas?

We also hope to make a new promoter packet that will include info for promoters beyond the official policies found in the membership packet, hopefully to be printed and available by the April promoter's workshop.

The issue of good working mic cords and cables was brought up. As it stands, Roboto has four working microphones and five working mic cords. We obviously want to stay on top of our equipment before it breaks, but those in attendance seemed to agree that the current equipment status is satisfactory.

Alyssa Truszkowski suggested an idea for a special event involving a potluck dinner/cabaret type evening. It might consist of karaoke, or a "house band" consisting of willing participants, or perhaps bands playing covers, or spoken word performances or any number of crazy ideas; the potluck aspect would imply lots of good food and cheap or free admission. She and Jeremy will discuss the plans and if you have any input or interesting ideas, please send them along.

Roboto's landlord (Mr. Como) has proposed a possible solution to our blossoming desire for a slightly bigger space. He has offered to open up the wall between Roboto and the old Multi-Tool space. Though the entire wall couldn't be removed, he claims we could open up three or four larger doorways. In return for this, he would expect us to commit to a 3 year lease and would ask to increase our rent progressively each year from $410 (currently) to $750 at the end of the lease. This rent hike is a little bit of a financial stretch, but doable. The board of directors met with him recently to discuss the details: he believes the total work would take about a month and Roboto itself would need to be shut down for a week or so; his son would be performing most of the construction work (we know he has construction experience but not the details), and though we don't have anything in writing regarding a timeline or otherwise, we would definitely get something in writing before continuing. Several issues were discussing regarding this topic, including:

Pros:
would open up more room for people to relax during bands, put merchandise during shows, (possibility creating more room for people in the actual show space side of Roboto)
allow us to bring back a more active zine library and other perks
might increase total capacity for audience during shows
would allow for some interesting possible changes to were bands play (front corner? Build a riser for them to stand on? People can watch from stage area?)
would be free to us


Cons:
we commit to a 3 year lease and higher rent
no guarantees regarding how long this would take to complete
no progress on possibly owning our own space
probably won't really add much space for people to see bands or allow for "bigger" shows

Among other sentiments, it seemed many had the general idea that the benefits we would experience from doing this, most significantly an increased flow between spaces and more room for people to spread out, may not warrant the costs and uncertainties. We are looking for your input. Should we forget the whole idea? Continue talking to the landlord about possibilities? Get back to looking for a building we could possibly buy? Email your thoughts and concerns to: info@therobotoproject.org.

And finally, the next monthly meeting will be held Wednesday, April 20th at 7pm at Roboto. Questions or comments, you know who to email!